Standard Project Fiche

STANDARD PROJECT FICHE

Basic Information

1.1CRIS Number: 2004/016-782.01.05

1.2Title: Integrated Water Management of the Mesta/Nestos River Basin (Phase II)

1.3 Sector:Environment

1.4 Location: Trans-boundary Mesta/Nestos River Basin - Bulgaria/Greece.

1.5 Duration: 24 months

Objectives

2.1Overall Objective

The overall project objective is to establish transboundary and integrated management of the Mesta / NestosRiver Basin in compliance with: the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC and other EU water directives, andbilateral agreements between Bulgaria and Greece in the field of water management and national legislation.

2.2Project purpose

The project purpose is through the technical and institutional support to the Western Aeagean Basin Directorate and the Joint Steering Committee for transboundary and integrated management, to prepare the first Draft River Basin Management Plan for Mesta/Nestos

2.3Accession Partnership (AP) and NPAA priority

Accession Partnership Medium -Term Priority

Complete transposition and implementation of framework and sector legislation according to pre-defined timetable.

Integrate sustainable development principles into the definition and implementation of all other sector policies.

Accession Partnership Short Term Priority

Continue transposition of framework legislation in the water, air and waste sectors, prepare and implement detailed directive specific approximation programmes; strengthen implementation structures, particularly at the regional level.

2.4Contribution to National Development Plan (and/or Structural Funds

Development Plan/SDP)

N/A

2.5 Cross Border Impact

The project is in compliance with Axis 3, Measure 3.2. Protection, “Promotion and management of natural environment” of the Joint Programming Document.

The project shall improve cross-border counterparts’ coordination and provide the responsible regional/local authorities with management capacity, relevant information and program documents for integrated planning, identification and development of programs of measures within the frame of a shared River Basin Management Plan.

Description

3.1Background and justification

In the present process of EU integration and economic development one of the challenges for Bulgaria is to balance a desire for strong socio-economic development with sustainable use of its water resources and protection of vulnerable ecosystems and an outstanding natural heritage. This challenge applies equally also to the many transboundary waters and river basins the country shares with its 5 neighbouring countries including the Mesta / Nestos river shared with Greece. Bulgaria - like Greece - is committed to implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) and the integrated approach to river basin management. The development of sustainable transboundary river basin management for the Mesta / Nestos River catchment should be seen in the frame of this directive.

The Mesta / Nestos River – named Mesta in Bulgaria and Nestos in Greece - flows from its origin in the mountains in the Southwest of the country through the Anatoliki Makedonia region in the Northeastern part of Greece and into the Aegean Sea. The River Basin contains substantial water resources of strategic importance for the economic development of the region and the border regions. In addition, the River Basin comprises a range of ecologically valuable, but also vulnerable ecosystems in national parks, habitat areas, wetlands and tributaries.

The importance of the river basin is reflected in the collaboration between the Bulgarian and Greek governments concerning agreements in water flow, where the first bilateral agreement was signed in 1964, which also covered water management of transboundary rivers. This was followed by a second signed agreement in 1991 concerning the implementation of monitoring programs regarding quality and quantity for all transboundary rivers. A third agreement was singed in 1995 for a period of 35 years concerning the amount of Mesta/ Nestos river water discharge that should be available in the Bulgarian – Greek border. There is a Permanent Bulgarian-Greece Commission on Water Economy in the frame of the Governmental Agreement.

In Bulgaria the Mesta / Nestos is located within the administrative area of the Western Aegean River Basin Directorate located in Blagoevgrad. The Basin Directorate is one of four Basin Management units established in 2002 under the Ministry of Environment and Water (MoEW) and is the competent authority for implementing the requirements of the EC Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) in the Western Aegean River Basin. The establishment of Basin Directorates in Bulgaria is accordance with the Bulgarian Water Act from 1999. The Ministry of Environment and Water and especially Water Directorate is overall responsible for implementing the Water Framework Directive and this Directorate co-ordinates the activities of the four River Basin Directorates.

Integrated Water Management in general, and specifically in Bulgaria, attempts to bring together water sector actors traditionally tied to different ministries. In addition, a new regional management authority has been introduced with the River Basin Directors in full accordance with the EU WFD. At the River Basin level, actual implementation work will have to be done within a tight time schedule. The resources and capacity of the River Basin Directorates are on place now.

The entire project comprises 2 phases: Phase I under MF 2002 between Bulgaria and Greece and Phase II (present project proposal) to be financed under MF 2004 between Bulgaria and Greece. Phase I of the project is the preparatory phase for the main phase, Phase II.

The start of Phase I will coincide roughly with the Directive’s (2000/60/EC) deadline for the River Basin Overview in December 2004. Activities during this Phase shall therefore build on and detail the overview data and information compiled by the WABD, Blagoevgrad, for the national reporting to the EU Commission. The time frame of the project shall enable the identification of specific gaps in data, technical and human resources etc. required for assessment of main management issues concerning water quality and river basin management. These activities shall be undertaken in close collaboration with the WABD as the competent regional authority for the Bulgarian side of the Mesta / Nestos River Basin.

3.2Sectoral rationale

N/A

3.3Results

Transboundary co-ordination for River Basin Management of the Mesta/Nestos river established;
Identified and presented to the competent authorities and public the main water and transboundary management issues in the Mesta/Nestos River Basin;
The technical and institutional requirements necessary for preparation of the Draft River Basin Management Plan (Annex VII of Directive 2000/60/EC) finalized;
Monitoring requirements concerning planning of monitoring networks and programmes in accordance with the Water Framework Directive implemented;
A hydrological model for Mesta/Nestoso river developed;
Informationsystem, website and internet forum created;
Public awareness campaigns provided;
A common approach to River Basin Characterization approved;
Common water quality objectives, principles and definitionsagreed;
Common management methods and measures in compliance with Annex VII of WFD applied.

Remark: The same results are expected from the Creece after completing the project for their part of the river.

3.4Activities (including Means)

The project will be implemented under two components, as follows:

Component 1 – Technical assistance:

Transboundary co-ordination for River Basin Management of the Mesta/Nestos river and provide support to the involvement and awareness of the public
Enhance the Western Aegean Basin Directorates technical and institutional capacity to prepare the Bulgarian part of the River Basin Management Plan of the Mesta / Nestos River
Technical, socioeconomic and other required assessments for preparation of the Draft River Basin Management Plan (Annex VII of Directive 2000/60/EC)
Implementation the monitoring requirements concerning planning of monitoring networks and programmes in accordance with the Water Framework Directive
Calculation of the river basin water balance by collecting, processing,analyzing andmodellinghydrological, hydro geological and other relevant information;
Preparation of technical specifications for purchase of necessary equipment;
Supply of necessary technical equipment for monitoring activities and vehicles;
Creation and maintaining an information network database, website and internet forum;
Support to Public awareness campaigns.

Component 2 - Purchases and delivary of equipment:

Purchase of laboratory equipment for the Regional laboratory of the Executive Environmental Agency in Blagoevgrad in order to ensure the high quality analyses as well as the implementation of the projectactivities.
Supply of 2 off-road vehicles for transportation of the personell and specialised equipment(laboratory equipment for express analysis required by the project and monitoring programs in compliance with Water Framework Directive)
Purchase of monitoring points’ equipment in accordance with the requirements of Water Framework Directive
Purchase of relevant hardware and software for the implementation of Water Framework Directive requirements, including operational information system

3.5 Linked Activities

There are additional previous projects with direct impact to the water sector and implementation of the EU WFD:

Phare Twinning project 1998: Transposition of the EU Directives dealing with Urban Wastewater treatment (91/271/EEC), Dangerous Substances discharges into aquatic environment (76/464/EEC) and Permit issuing. This project helped the Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEW) in the process of transposition of the requirements of these Directives and in this connection MOEW has adopted and approved 2 Programs for the implementation of Urban Waste Water Directive and Dangerous Substances Directive. These Programs were presented to the European Commission in March 2004 and became part of the Bulgarian legislation.

Phare TBC project BG9904-04.02.02 – Preliminary survey on the identification of the sensitive areas in the basins of rivers Mesta, Struma, Arda, Tundja and Maritza according to the criteria of Directive 91/271/EEC. Based on the results of this project, the Minister of Environment and Water issued an Order where there was a list with designated sensitive areas of all Bulgarian rivers. The sensitive areas require tertiary treatment in order to reduce the nutrients in the treated wastewater discharged into the rivers.

Related programmes and donor activities:

The first step of River Basin Management in Bulgaria was conducted with the help of the first Twinning project between France and Bulgaria BG EN 99 from 1999 to 2002 with institutional establishment of the River Basin Authorities.

The second step was Twinning project EN 2000 (BG2000EN01A – Institutional strengthening at national and regional level for implementation of the drinking water, fish water and shellfish water, bathing water and dangerous substances discharges directives) by the development of appropriate tools and methodologies for implementation of Acquis Communautaire in the field of drinking water, surface water, bathing, fish and shellfish water and dangerous substances.

An on-going project of the DANCEE section of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (DEPA) is called “Implementation of the Water Framework Directive in Bulgaria - support to the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water and to the Black Sea Basin Directorate”. This project aims at providing strategic and technical support to the Ministry of Environment and Water in the Pilot Black Sea Area for the River Basin Overview, undertaking GIS training and institutionall strengthening of the Black Sea Basin Directorate.

Another on-going project is the project of the Italian Ministry of Environment and Territory called Iskar Pilot Project: Implementation of the Water Framework Directive in the Iskar River Basin and the waste water treatment plants’ pre-feasibility study. The Project aims at the elaboration of an Action Plan for the implementation of Water Framework Directive in the most important tributary to the Danube River – Iskar River.

A new Twinning Project BG 03/IB-EN 02 called “Institutional strengthening of the River Basin Authorities in Bulgaria for Implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive in the Danube River Basin (Pilot River Basin and Sub-River Basin)” will start in August 2004 with the help of key experts from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Federal Republic of Germany. The project will support the efforts of Bulgaria in implementing the legislative and technical elements of the Water Framework Directive in accordance with the Bulgarian Environmental legislation, particularly the elaboration of the elements of the first Draft of the River Basin Management Plan for the Bulgarian part of the Danube River Basin.

3.6 Lessons learned

During the last Bulgarian-Greek meetings on Phare CBC / INTERREG IIIA the issue to improve the joint coordination activities at programming and implementation stages has always been present in the discussions. In order to improve the quality of the environmental projects preparation implementation, on the last technical meeting in June 2004, both partners agreed joint coordination bodies to be established. As for the present project, it was agreed the Greek side to be involved in the related Joint meetings and Working Groups.

4. Institutional Framework

The Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works will be acting as Contracting Authority with the overall responsibility for the programme implementation, administrative, technical and financial management of the grant scheme. MRDPW as a co-ordinator for CBC programme is obliged to monitor physical and financial implementation of this project including Phare and co-financing payments, and report to the EC in regularly reports.

Detailed Budget (in MEUR)

Phare support / Total Phare (=I+IB) / National Co-financing (*) / IFI / TOTAL
Component / Investment
Support / Institution
Building
1. Service contract / 0.950 / 0.950 / 0.950
2. Supply contract / 0.350 / 0.350 / 0.120 / 0.470
TOTAL / 0.350 / 0.950 / 1.300 / 0.120 / 1.420

(*) The Investment component of the project will be co-financed by the Bulgarian National Fund.

Implementation Arrangements

6.1Implementing Agency

The Bulgarian CBC Implementing Agency is the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works (MRDPW), which retains overall responsibility for the implementation of the project. This includes approval of ToR, of tender documents, of evaluation criteria, evaluation of offers, signature of contracts and authorization and payment of invoices.

PAO Mr. Valentin Tserovski

17-19 Sv.sv. Kiril i Metodi St, 1202 Sofia

Phone: + 359 2 980 48 48

Fax: + 359 2983 56 85

The following main institutions will be involved during project implementation from Bulgarian side:

Ministry of Environment and Water – Water Department;
Western Aegean Basin Directorate;
Executive Environmental Agency – Water Department;
Blagoevgrad Regional Inspectorate on Environment and Water;

6.2.Twinning

N / A

6.3. Non-standard aspects

There are no non-standard contracts or tender procedures envisaged within this project.

6.4.Contracts

FW contract (Technical Assistance)-0.950 MEUR

Supply contract -0.470 MEUR

7. Implementation schedule

Co-ordination with the Bulgarian authorities will be ensured so that the call for proposals is launched in the same time with identical deadlines.

Start of tendering

/ Start of project activities /

Completion

Service Contract / February 2005 / November 2005 / November 2007
Supply Contract / January 2006 / April 2006 / June 2006

8. Equal opportunity:

Equal opportunity principles in relation to participation in the project will be guaranteed.

9. Environment

Environmental aspects will be assessed individually for each of the proposed projects.

10. Rates of return

N/A

11. Investment criteria

11.1 Catalytic effect

The following catalytic effects are foreseen:

Development of implementation plans, together with financing strategies in order to outline the steps needed to ensure full implementation of the acquis in the medium and longer term. These plans should take into account all available resources and institutional training and further on elaborate mechanisms to monitor effective implementation, with particular emphasis on water management.

Strengthening of the administrative structures necessary for the full implementation, monitoring and enforcement of the acquis and especially of the EC Water Directives, with special attention on WFD implementation. In particular, reinforcing the Water Directorates, municipalities and other public bodies at the local level, with an emphasis on water quality management.

11.2 Co-financing

The Investment component of the project will be co-financed by the National Fund.

11.3 Additionality

No other financing sources from the private sector or from IFIs are expected for financing this project.

11.4. Project readiness and size

No preliminary studies are needed for this project. Its implementation can start according to the implementation chart (Annex 2).

11.5. Sustainability

The project will be sustainable in the long term. Based on the prepared first Drafr River Basin Management Plan for Mesta/Nestos, the relevant central and regional/local environment authorities from both sides of the border will successfully apply the EU WFD 2000/60/EC in the future joint management of the Mesta/Nestos River Basin.

11.6. Compliance with state aids provisions

The project respects the state aids provisions.

11.7Contribution to National Development Plan

12. Conditionality and sequencing

Beneficiaries undertake to finance any additional costs, which may arise in order to ensure timely completion and implementation of this project.

Annexes

Annex 1 - Log frame
Annex 2 - Detailed implementation chart
Annex 3 - Contracting and disbursement schedule
Annex 4 - Legislation references

ANNEX 1: LOGFRAME PLANNING MATRIX FOR
Project: Integrated Water Management of the Mesta / Nestos River Basin (Phase II) / Programme name and number
BG-GR 2004
Contracting period expires
30 November 2006 / Disbursement period expires 30 November 2007
Total budget: 1.420 MEUR / Phare budget: 1.300 MEUR
Overall objective / Objectively Verifiable Indicators / Sources of Verification
The overall project objective is to establish transboundary and integrated management of the Mesta / Nestos River Basin in compliance with: the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC and other EU water directives, andbilateral agreements between Bulgaria and Greece in the field of water management and national legislation. / Operational Joint Cooperation Committee, established / Annual reports;
Website, media, written materials.
Project purpose / Objectively Verifiable Indicators / Sources of Verification / Assumptions
The project purpose is through the technical and institutional support to the Western Aeagean Basin Directorate and the Joint Steering Committee for transboundary and integrated management, to prepare the first Draft River Basin Management Plan for Mesta/Nestos /

Biological characteristics developed and reached in accordance to the requirements;

/ IA reports;
Website, media, written materials;
Assessment reports. / 11Public awareness campaigns
12All stakeholders and competent authorities to be involved in the process of identification of the main water management issues in the Mesta river basin
Results / Objectively Verifiable Indicators / Sources of Verification / Assumptions

Transboundary co-ordination for River Basin Management of the Mesta/Nestos river established;
Identified and presented to the competent authorities and public the main water and transboundary management issues in the Mesta/Nestos River Basin;
The technical and institutional requirements necessary for preparation of the Draft River Basin Management Plan (Annex VII of Directive 2000/60/EC) finalized;
Monitoring requirements concerning planning of monitoring networks and programmes in accordance with the Water Framework Directive implemented;
A hydrological model for Mesta/Nestoso river developed;
Informationsystem, website and internet forum created;
Public awareness campaigns provided;
A common approach to River Basin Characterization approved;
Common water quality objectives, principles and definitions agreed;
Common management methods and measures in compliance with Annex VII of WFD applied.

Increase number of monitoring stations – minimum 1 station per 1000 sq.km catchment areap;
Minimum 5 monitoring points’ equipment in accordance with the requirements of Water Framework Directive;
1 hydrological model applied
Minimum 2 public awarenwss campaigns;
Minimum 50 participants

/ Programmes of measures in the River basin management plan for Mesta/Nestos;
Project implementation reports including water quality and quantity; /

Monitoring results are used for decision-making process.
The knowledge for EU water management standards are implemented in practice.

Activities / Means / Sources of Verification / Assumptions
Component 1 – Technical assistance:

Transboundary co-ordination for River Basin Management of the Mesta / Nestos river and provide support to the involvement and awareness of the public;
Enhance the Western Aegean Basin Directorates technical and institutional capacity to prepare the Bulgarian part of the River Basin Management Plan of the Mesta / Nestos River;
Technical, socioeconomic and other required assessments for preparation of the Draft River Basin Management Plan (Annex VII of Directive 2000/60/EC);
Implementation the monitoring requirements concerning planning of monitoring networks and programmes in accordance with the Water Framework Directive;
Calculation of the river basin water balance by collecting, processing,analyzing andmodellinghydrological, hydro geological and other relevant information;
Preparation of technical specifications for purchase of necessary equipment;
Supply of necessary technical equipment for monitoring activities andvehicles;
Creating and maintaining an information network database, website and internet forum;
Support to Public awareness campaigns.

Component 2 - Purchases and delivary of equipment:

Purchase of laboratory equipment for the Regional laboratory of the Executive Environmental Agency in Blagoevgrad in order to ensure the high quality analyses as well as the implementation of the projectactivities;
Supply of 2 off-road vehicles for transportation of the personell and specialised equipment(laboratory equipment for express analysis required by the project and monitoring programs in compliance with Water Framework Directive);
Purchase of monitoring points’ equipment in accordance with the requirements of Water Framework Directive;
Purchase of relevant hardware and software for the implementation of Water Framework Directive requirements, including operational information system;

/ Service contract – 0.950 MEUR
Supply contract:
Phare – 0.350 MEUR
National co-financing–0.120 MEUR

ANNEX 2: Detailed implementation chart